I use my car for auto-cross and have been thinking about this lately. Where is the best location to adjust/set camber? The camber adjustment can be made either at the hub, with camber bolts (a.k.a. crash bolts) or the stock camber adjustment bushings or at the top of the strut/dampener with a camber adjustment plate. Unless the car is perfectly square, which is a possibility on a nearly 20 year old car, adjusting the camber with camber plates could leave your strut tubes at different angles in relation to the chassis, yet this seems to be the must common method of camber adjustment. I would think that you should use the camber plates to square the struts to the car, then adjustment the camber at the hub. Anyone have any input about this? (I did search the forum and didn't find an answer)
personally i use cam bolts on the bottom and stock cam adjusters. i've heard that for autoX the best camber is -2 to -3 degrees. racerb has some good input on this http://st162.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=713 check that topic. should help you out.
Thanks, I've read this thread and his set-up is the same as mine, but he doesn't address suspension geometry. I know this is more of an advanced topic that I could read about and make my own determination, but I'm hoping to find the "readers digest" version.
I know, but I thought I would ask anyway. What makes the most sense to me is to "square" the struts to the chassis then do the fine adjusting to compensate for any difference at the hub. The only thing I'm not sure of is the affect of changing the angle of the strut in relation to the chassis. I may be way off base with in my thinking.
Hey Jim, the best place to check camber is at the center of the hub using a magnetic camber gauge, but if not availible a gauge that contacts multiple points on the rim is best. As far as suspension geometry is concerned, it is a good rule of thumb not to lower the vehicle past the point where the lower control arms flatten out, and definately not arc upward. If your car is to low, it induces what is known as bump steer and can actually cause your camber settings to be reduced during suspension travel. I have found it most helpful to use the services of a good alignment shop for the first set up numbers, and have them go through different settings within the range of camber and toe, so I have a basic starting point. Remember these shops have computerized equiptment, which gives you very fine adjustment details. Talk to others in your area to find the best shop possible, hopefully one that understands racecar geometry. You have one advantage over my current set up, as most '88 Celicas didn't come with the adjuster cam built into the upper hub mount, which make fine tuning with camber plates much easier. My '87 has these cams on it's hubs and it creates more difficulty in setting a zero degrees of camber before even setting the plate angles. It is alway nice to be able to do everything yourself, but some times it's better to take it to someone who already has the right equiptment for the job! racerb :?
Thanks for the reply Bob, however I already know everything you replied and that doesn't answer my question. Maybe I need to think of a better way of wording my question to get the answer I'm looking for. There is the possibility that no one on this board has the answer though.
Try wording it and I'll take it to the Toyota mechanic that did my alignment for me, he had the chance to look at my car in detail so he might be able to answer the question, and he's a pretty good guy.
as our cars sit our struts are nearly vertical which is great for vertical loading but puts one hell of a strain when laterally loading the car. depending on what you do cam plates may be better for you. in fact i would think that my bringing the struts a little closer to the center you'll gain a lot in autoX as opposed to "tilting" the hub. for me vertical is perfect, since i'll be mainly drag.
